December 24, 2019
After our Goose Island State Park stopover, we continued our trip down the Texas coast to Mustang Island. We left early so we could bird Port Aransas on the way to our camp site at Mustang Island State Park. Just before we reached the ferry, we stopped to take a picture of a structure that dominates the area.
The ferry trip is so short that you can only get out of the car for about three minutes. But we grabbed a shot of an oncoming ferry.
As soon as we got off the ferry, we made our way to the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center. The light was beautiful and the birds, while not abundant, still were plentiful enough to give us a few hours of enjoyment.
We next tried Charlie's Pasture. Only the old part still exists. The boardwalk part was destroyed by the Hurricane Harvey which did in most of Port Aransas. Again we mostly saw a landscape devoid of birds and had to work hard to get the next two pictures.
After a mostly a non-bird walk through Charlie's pasture, we tried our luck at Paradise Pond. That has suffered from three factors. First the land that provided trees around the pond has been cleared and developed. Second, the hurricane, tore out trees. Third, most of the large trees were Brazilian pepper trees and were removed and replaced with little trees. So there are very few birds there.
We camped at Mustang Island State Park and birded it and Padre Island National Seashore but only found a handful of common birds.
None were worth noting. Species of birds were notably absent and the numbers of each species we saw WAY down.
Our next landing was a motel in Alamo, Texas where we had several birding adventures. Stay tuned. This is publishing as I'm enjoying a house party with friends. We visited the Norman Rockwell exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston yesterday and will go on a little paddle today.
After our Goose Island State Park stopover, we continued our trip down the Texas coast to Mustang Island. We left early so we could bird Port Aransas on the way to our camp site at Mustang Island State Park. Just before we reached the ferry, we stopped to take a picture of a structure that dominates the area.
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As soon as we got off the ferry, we made our way to the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center. The light was beautiful and the birds, while not abundant, still were plentiful enough to give us a few hours of enjoyment.
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| Laughing and ring-billed gulls |
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| Foraging sora |
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| I think this is a female green-winged teal |
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| Lots of activity was going on at the end of the reach of my lens |
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| Several juvenile pie-billed grebes were playing and feeding |
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| The common gallinules were probably the most abundant birds except for white pelicans |
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| Snowy egret sighting his next snack |
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| A green-winged teal showing off his field marks |
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| Two American bitterns were hunting and provided me about a half hour of amusement |
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| Black-necked stilt and mottled ducks |
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| Black necked stilts and reflections |
We next tried Charlie's Pasture. Only the old part still exists. The boardwalk part was destroyed by the Hurricane Harvey which did in most of Port Aransas. Again we mostly saw a landscape devoid of birds and had to work hard to get the next two pictures.
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| Caracara |
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| A Savannah sparrow - if a sparrow sits for pictures, its a Savannah |
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| I enjoyed these corral bean seeds- some people make beads of them, although they are poisonous |
After a mostly a non-bird walk through Charlie's pasture, we tried our luck at Paradise Pond. That has suffered from three factors. First the land that provided trees around the pond has been cleared and developed. Second, the hurricane, tore out trees. Third, most of the large trees were Brazilian pepper trees and were removed and replaced with little trees. So there are very few birds there.
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| This was the only merganser we saw in the Central or Lower Texas Coast - very strange to find it in the pond and not in salt water |
We camped at Mustang Island State Park and birded it and Padre Island National Seashore but only found a handful of common birds.
None were worth noting. Species of birds were notably absent and the numbers of each species we saw WAY down.
Our next landing was a motel in Alamo, Texas where we had several birding adventures. Stay tuned. This is publishing as I'm enjoying a house party with friends. We visited the Norman Rockwell exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston yesterday and will go on a little paddle today.
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